Lump in your breast? Get a bigger bra

A woman with a tumour the size of an egg in her breast was told to "get a bigger bra" and cut out chocolate as the NHS left her undiagnosed for six months.

Doctors dismissed repeated requests from mother-of-two Sue Anderson for tests on the lump to see if it was malignant.

Feeling certain that something was badly wrong, she sought a second opinion. Her worst fears were confirmed when she was diagnosed with cancer which had spread to lymph nodes in her armpit.

The blunder by Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire has left 34-year-old Mrs Anderson fighting for her life.

Anger at missed opportunities

Last night, she spoke of her anger at the way the NHS was able to miss so many opportunities to catch the cancer at an earlier stage.

Mrs Anderson, who works for Cambridge Constabulary, said: "I was backwards and forwards to the hospital after being referred by my GP but no one would listen to my requests for a biopsy.

"Of course I went along with all their advice, but it was getting so frustrating and upsetting that by the final appointment I was in tears. I feared something was wrong and all the time I was basically being told not to be silly."

She had first noticed the lump in September 2001 while living in Brighton. Tests concluded that it was probably benign and due to hormonal changes.

She moved to Cambridgeshire in 2002 and by May last year the lump had started to get bigger. Her GP referred her to the breast clinic at Hinchingbrooke Hospital and in June she was examined by two doctors who, after ultrasound tests, concluded the lump was due to "fibrocystic change" and that this could be addressed by lifestyle changes.

Mrs Anderson was told to cut out caffeine and chocolate, stop smoking and take a massive dose of evening primrose oil, then return to the hospital three months later.

"I went home and tried to carry on with my life," she said. "I cut out coffee and chocolate and tried to give up smoking. I also took the evening primrose oil but it didn't help."

Biopsy recommended

At the end of October 2003 she felt more pains and a small lump on the side of her left breast and went back to her GP, who recommended a biopsy. She went back to Hinchingbrooke Hospital on November 18, 2003.

She was examined by a senior house officer and was told she wasn't taking enough evening primrose oil, which can help balance female hormones. "I explained the evening primrose oil wasn't helping and I was in a lot of pain," said Mrs Anderson.

"He then told me to get a better fitting bra.

"I went back to the waiting room in tears but a nurse followed me and persuaded me to see the consultant surgeon.

"He was abrupt and arrogant and rude and said he'd examined me and it was fibrocystic change.

"My husband asked why I wasn't having a mammogram or biopsy and at the end he grudgingly offered to do a biopsy."

Mrs Anderson was given an appointment nearly two months ahead, January 7. But she decided to go for a second opinion at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge in December - a decision which may have saved her life.

At Addenbrooke's she was given an ultrasound scan, mammogram and biopsy within three hours. A week later she was given the bad news that she had cancer.

Relief at diagnosis

"I was speechless," she said. "But I was relieved it had finally been checked out and they were going to do something. It was so nice to be listened to and taken seriously."

She had a mastectomy at Addenbrooke's two days before Christmas and doctors discovered the cancer had spread to her lymph glands, meaning she needed chemotherapy.

Her husband Paul and daughters Ellie, ten, and Ruby, seven, are helping her in her battle against the disease.

Mrs Anderson said: "I have gone from being a mummy with hair and two breasts to a mummy with no hair and one breast, but I am getting better and I've had scans which show the cancer has not spread.

"I just feel so angry about the way Hinchingbrooke treated me and want any women out there who are worried about breast lumps not to be afraid to question their doctors.

"They could have diagnosed me last June and I wouldn't have had these months of terrible pain and anxiety."

A spokesman for Hinchingbrooke Hospital said it could not comment on individual cases because of patient confidentiality, but added: "We are very sorry to hear of Mrs Anderson's concern.

"She has not approached us directly to make a complaint but we would very much hope to discuss her treatment with her."